High blood pressure and pregnancy can go hand in hand. It is not unusual to see a slight increase in your blood pressure whilst you are pregnant.  It is when the high blood pressure increases to levels which may also lead to some serious side effects especially for the fetus during gestation that the doctors become concerned. When it comes to being pregnant though, there are three possibilities which can lead to high blood pressure.

For starters, you could suffer from chronic hypertension in which basically you may have the high blood pressure long before even becoming pregnant. In many cases, the woman may have this high blood pressure for years and not even have known about it until she goes in for a prenatal check up and her blood pressure is taken by the clinic’s staff.

Another possibility with regards to pregnancy and high blood pressure is what’s called preeclampsia. In this form of high blood pressure, not only is the mother in serious danger, but the fetus is as well. Preeclampsia usually occurs during the second half of the pregnancy and not only can it cause high blood pressure, but is also known to cause protein in the urine as well as many other blood and fluid related issues.

The final type of hypertension associated with pregnancy is what is known as transient hypertension in which they simply suffer from high blood pressure during the second half of the pregnancy. In the case of transient hypertension, although it is similar to that of preeclampsia, the major difference is that the only issue associated with it is the high blood pressure. When it is not accompanied with the other symptoms of preeclampsia it is considered to be transient hypertension.

If you have chronic hypertension, this high blood pressure that is associated with the condition has been known to decrease the growth rate of the fetus as well as having the possibility of incurring preeclampsia during the second half of the term. The reason preeclampsia is talked about so much, is not for the fact that the high blood pressure is dangerous for the fetus during a pregnancy, but rather it is the other symptoms associated with the condition which can be extremely dangerous. In the case of preclampsia, not only you, but your unborn fetus can have troubles with the brain which can include things like headaches as well as seizures. Furthermore your vision may become blurred as well as you may develop a lower abdominal pain. This pain comes directly from the liver and is a result of the pressure of the blood.

As for treatment options, the chronic hypertension can be remedied through the prescription of specialized high blood pressure medications while at the same time, the transient hypertension poses no threat to the mother or the fetus. However, the only treatment for preeclampsia is birth. I the case of preeclampsia, your doctor will ask you to spend much of the remaining pregnancy under close observation and induce the birth as soon as safely possible for both the baby and the mother.

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